GAMEDAY INFO
#5 Purdue (6-0) at Florida State (1-7)
Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022, 7:15 PM | ESPN2/ESPNU
Tallahassee, Florida | Donald L. Tucker Civic Center
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The 5th-ranked Purdue Boilermakers men’s basketball team will look to continue their undefeated start to the year Wednesday night as they pay a visit to the struggling Florida State Seminoles as part of the Big Ten–ACC Challenge.
Purdue, 6-0 for the second straight year, enters on the heels of an extremely impressive performance in the Phil Knight Legacy Tournament over the weekend, in which they upset Gonzaga and Duke squads ranked in the top 10 en route to winning the title. Florida State, which at 1-7 is off to their worst start since 1959, lost to Nebraska on Sunday to finish eighth out of eight teams at the ESPN Events Invitational.
The Boilermakers will continue to revolve around 7’4 center Zach Edey. The junior is off to a fantastic start, averaging 12 rebounds and almost 22 points per game despite usually playing under 30 minutes. He’s dominated the paint against each of Purdue’s opponents thus far, even when faced with Duke five-star, seven-foot recruits Dereck Lively II and Kyle Filiposki, and All-American Drew Timme of Gonzaga.
Beyond Edey, Purdue features a deep roster, with eight other players seeing over 10 minutes per contest. True freshman point guard Braden Smith has arguably been the most impressive of the bunch, averaging 10 points, five rebounds, three assists, and two steals per game.
Florida State features a much more balanced attack, with four of their starters averaging in double figures. Juniors Caleb Mills and Cam’Ron Fletcher top the group with over 12 points per game apiece, but Mills has struggled with his shot, shooting just 20% from three-point range, and Fletcher has struggled to take care of the basketball, coughing up 19 turnovers so far in the young season. In fact, the entire Florida State team carries a negative assist to turnover ratio into this matchup, something that the stingy Purdue defense will definitely look to take advantage of.
The Seminoles will again be without the services of top recruit Baba Miller, who is in the midst of serving a 16-game suspension for receiving improper travel benefits.
This is the fifth contest overall between the two schools and fourth in the past five years. Purdue also traveled to Tallahassee for the 2018 Big Ten–ACC Challenge, where they gave up a late eight-point lead and lost 73-72.
In 2019, Florida State defeated the Boilermakers in overtime for the Emerald Coast Classic Championship, but Purdue returned the favor last year with a 93-65 blowout of the Seminoles within the friendly confines of Mackey Arena.
Story from Reilly Melville